Medical research and development company MedLab Clinical Ltd (ASX: MDC) has been granted ethics approval for a clinical trial that will treat cancer pain with medical cannabis.
MedLab is currently about to begin the third phase of its clinical trial, which will test the effectiveness of medication NanaBis on patients suffering from bone cancer. NanaBis is a cannabis-based medication that contains a 1-to-1 ratio of THC and CBD. Private cannabis company Tasmanian Alkaloids currently have an agreement to manufacture the drug.
During the previous phase of MedLab’s last year, the company found that NanaBis improved the quality of life and decreased pain and opioid use in patients in Royal North Shore Hospital.Â
MedLab will conduct the third phase of their trial in Australia, the US and the UK. The company is currently waiting on approval for the US and UK but has received approval from Belberry Limited – an Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). That approval extends to GenesisCare in Sydney and Mater Hospital in Brisbane (HREC Approval ID: 2021-01-001/AA).
The Brisbane site will be overseen by Principal Investigator Professor Phil Good, while the Sydney Site will be overseen by Principal Investigator Professor Stephen Clarke. According to MedLab’s CEO, Dr Sean Hall, Professor Clarke participated in MedLab’s previous trial.
It is wonderful to see Prof Stephen Clarke continuing with the NanaBis™ clinical investigation, some will recall, Prof Clarke was the PI in the prior advanced cancer, pain trials we completed March 2020.
In future, MedLab could extend the study to two more sites in Australia, pending further approval. NanaBis is also already in the hands of several hundred people suffering from a range of cancer and non-cancer conditions. MedLab is tracking the progress of 900 of these Australians in clinical and non-clinical investigations. The company also intends to bring NanaBis to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024.
